Soap dish and buoyant holder combined



17, 1966 G. SILOWASH, SR

SOAP DISH AND BUOYANT HOLDER COMBINED Filed May 18, 1964 SOAP 5 36 George Si/owas/r, Sr.

INVEN'I'OR 28 BY mm ILIItTTTIII 32 2 United States Patent 3,251,639 SOAP DISH AND BUOYANT HOLDER COMBINED George Silowash, Sr., 228 Lloyd Ave., Latrobe, Pa. Filed May 18, 1964, Ser. No. 368,192 Claims. (Cl. 312-351) The present invention relates to means for supporting a'bar .or cake of soap, said means embodying a buoyant holder and in combination therewith a shallow dish and wherein said dish provides a receptacle or receiver for the insertable and removable soap holder.

' Buoyant soap holders which float the soap atop a body water are old and well known as disclosed, for one example, in the Nelthorpe buoyant soap dish 1,690,591 and the Hilenski float Design Patent 150,766. The object in the instant matter is to provide an improved holder and dish combination which better serves the purposes for which it is intended and constitutes a significant advance in the art.

In carrying out the present invention the holder is made of buoyant lightweight material which is of a shape and size to support commonly marketed large, medium and small size bar soap. To the ends desired the holder comprises, a honeycomb or cellular buoyant support marginally encompassed by a buoyant frame. thus providing a simple and practical float. This holder or float is employed for use atop the water in a bathtub while one is taking a bath. I

The concept also embodies the aforementioned dish. The dish is employed in the usual manner; that is, atop the wash basin, rim of clothes washing tubs, kitchen sink, drainage board or wherever soap dishes are commonly used. While the soap could be placed directly in the receptacle portion of the dish it is preferred, in keeping with the present invention, that the aforementioned rack-like holder be fitted into the dish and the soap placed thereon in the manner herein shown and described.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective showing the soap dish and the complemental buoyant holder separated;

' FIGURE 2 is a view on a smaller scale in elevation showing the holder by itself floating atop a body of water and supporting the bar of soap;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view wherein the dish and holder are assembled in a manner to support the soap; and

FIGURE 4 is a section at right angles taken on the plane of the vertical section line 4-4 of FIGURE 3..

With reference first to FIG. 1 it will be seen that the invention comprises two component parts or units; name- ,ly, the plastic or equivalent soap dish or tray 6 and the attachable and detachable companion soap racking holder 8. The dish is shown rectangular in plan but may be of any suitable shape or design. It comprises a substantially flat bottom 10 marginally encompassed by an upstanding rim or wall 12 having a reinforcing head or lip 14 around "ice this position the dish and holder 8 combine in providing a highly satisfactory two-part soap dish for use in ones home basement, kitchen or bathroom as the case may be. When the holder 8 is to be used by itself in the manner shown, for example, in FIG. 2, it is, preferably but not necessarily, separated from the tray and used accordingly. This holder is characterized by a honeycomb-type or cellular grate or grid 20 comprising cooperating hollow supporting members interconnected in the manner shown wherein the members of one group are denoted at 22 and the complemental members of the other group at 24 these,

members being connected at right angles to each other and having their end portions joined to the inner encompassing wall 26 of the ovate frame members. It should be noted that the convex or rounded top and bottom surfaces 27 and 28 are of a curvature that they are adapted to seat themselves in the encompassing curvate marginal portions of the receptacle portion of the tray or dish when the two parts 6 and 8 are assembled for use in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. It will be further noted that the upper and lower surfaces 30 and 32 of the members 22 and 24 are disposed in planes above and below the convex surfaces 27 and 28 of the encompassing frame members. It follows that both top and bottom sides of this holder are the same in construction whereby it may be thus referred to as reversible. It will be further noted that the outer wall of the hollow rim, that isthe wall 34 (FIG. 3.) is provided with a centrally disposed outstanding rib 36 which facilitates handling the holder particularly by children when taking a bath or using the same as a toy float in the bathtub water. The fact that the rim of the holder is buoyant and the rack members 22 and 24 are also buoyant insures the provision of a holderwhich is amply buoyant and accordingly provides an efficient float for the soap.

It Will be evident that the invention has to do with a simple, practical and efficient combination characterized by a suitable dish or receiver constituting a base, an insertable and removable holder wherein the lower halfportion of the holder fits into the receptacle portion of the dish and wherein the holder is usable separately from the dish as a float for a bar of soap when the user is engaged in taking a tub bath.

It is believed that a careful consideration of the specification in conjunction with the views of the drawing will enable the reader to obtain a clear and comprehensive understanding of the subject matter of the invention, the features and advantages attending the same and the manner of using the component parts 6 and 8 singly and collectively. Accordingly, a more extended description is regarded as unnecessary.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A floatable holder for a cake of soap comprising a honeycomb-type grid having duplicate top and bottom reversibly usable surfaces and embodying coordinated hollow angularly related bar members, and a frame bordering the marginal portions of said grid, said frame being hollow and buoyant and having inner wall portions thereof joined to cooperating end portions of said bar members, all of said.bar members being of the same -trans verse cross-sectional dimension and the component members of said frame being of corresponding cross-sectional dimension but of a greater cross-section than that of the bar members, and the selectively usable top and bottom surfaces of the frame members and also said bar members being convex, the outer surfaces of the outwardly positioned wall members being provided with an outstanding encompassing bead, said bead being disposed in a plane midway between the top and bottom reversible convex surfaces of said frame members and providing an endless holder handling and limit stop rib.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein the bar members constituting said grid are all of the same crosssectional shape and are substantially ovate in cross-section, and wherein the frame members are also ovate in crosssection and, in combination, a relatively shallow holding tray having a depth appreciably less than the cross-sectional dimension of the members of said frame, said frame being of a vertical height appreciably greater than the depth of the receptacle portion of said holder, and said rack being disposed in a plane spaced well above and in general parallelism with the plane of the bottom of said holder.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a holder for a conventional cake or bar of soap comprising an openwork grid-like rack made of buoyant material and embodying coordinated angularly related bar members having top and bottom sides either of which may be directed upwardly to serve as a supporting base for an applicable and removable cake of soap, and a complemental frame also made of buoyant material and marginally encompassing said rack and adjoined with the component members of said rack, said frame having top and bottom 30 portions extending significantly above the respectively cooperable top and bottom surfaces of said rack and functioning to position and retain the cake of soap atop an upwardly facing side of said rack and to effectively guard against accidental displacement of said cake of soap once it is placed in a captive state atop said rack.

4. The structure according to claim 3 and, in combination, a companion bottoming and covering unit for the lower half-portion of said rack, said unit comprising a shallow dish having a bottommarginally encircled by an 5 upstanding rim and defining a relatively shallow receptacle portion, the junctional means connecting said rim with the marginal edge portions of said dish being curvate and of concavo-convex form, the upper and lower surfaces of the companion members of said frame being convex and conformingly insertable and seatable in the concave portion between the bottom and rim components of said dish. p

5. The structure defined in claim 4 and wherein the upper marginal edge of said rim is provided with a reinforcing bead and the exterior surfaces of the rim and bottom of said holder have reinforcing outstanding ribs, said frame members having generally planar walls and said walls being provided with an outstanding endless bead constituting a handling rib, said rib being situated in a plane midway between the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of the frame members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,089,652 3/1914 Lisbae 5348 1,690,591 11/1928 Nelthorpe 248-400 2,661,567 12/1953 Paege 3l2-35l FOREIGN PATENTS 258,259 12/1926 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FLOATABLE HOLDER FOR A CAKE OF SOAP COMPRISING A HONEYCOMB-TYPE GRID HAVING DUPLICATE TOP AND BOTTOM REVERSIBLY USABLE SURFACES AND EMBODYING COORDINATED HOLLOW ANGULARLY RELATED BAR MEMBERS, AND A FRAME BORDERING THE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF SAID GRID, SAID FRAME BEING HOLLOW AND BUOYANT AND HAVING INNER WALL PORTIONS THEREOF JOINED TO COOPERATING END PORTIONS OF SAID BAR MEMBERS, ALL OF SAID BAR MEMBERS BEING OF THE SAME TRANSVERSE CROSS-SECTIONAL DIMENSION AND THE COMPARTMENT MEMBERS OF SAID FRAME BEING OF CORRESPONDING CROSS-SECTIONAL DIMENSION BUT OF A GREATER CROSS-SECTION THAN THAT OF THE BAR MEMBERS, AND THE SELECTIVELY USABLE TOP AND BOTTOM SURFACES OF THE FRAME MEMBERS AND ALSO SAID BAR MEMBERS BEING CONVEX, THE OUTER SURFACES OF THE OUTWARDLY POSITIONED WALL MEMBERS BEING PROVIDED WITH AN OUTSTANDING ENCOMPASSING BEAD, SAID BEAD BEING DISPOSED IN A PLANE MIDWAY BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM REVERSIBLE CONVEX SURFACES OF SAID FRAME MEMBERS AND PROVIDING AN ENDLESS HOLDER HANDLING AND LIMIT STOP RIB. 